Dubai firm launches ‘hacker-proof’ smartphone

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A Dubai company has launched a new smartphone, which comes without a camera or GPS function and is being promoted as appealing to security-conscious users who want to reduce the chance of hackers accessing the device to spy on them.

Mobile phone brand Four has launched the K500 smartphone and the lack of a camera reduces the likelihood that cybercriminals could use ‘peeping Tom’ malware software to access the device and collect personal images without the user’s knowledge, it said in a press statement on Thursday.

“There is a very real concern that your mobile phone could be hijacked by malware, photographing you, friends and family, spying inside the home or workplace,” Four’s founder and CEO, Faisal Al Bannai, said in a press statement.

“This can happen by downloading a seemingly innocent app onto the phone, but within the app are a series of permissions, allowing access to cameras, GPS location and so on, that transform the camera into a spy device. The app is the so-called Trojan horse that installs surveillance software onto the device, and brings intruders into your private environment.”

The company said it will retail at 299 dirhams ($81) and will be available in over 1,500 outlets across the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.